Last Updated on April 4, 2023
07 min read
There could be a variety of factors to blame if your business isn’t meeting its sales goals.
But far too frequently businesses aren’t making as much money as they should because they aren’t involving customers enough. This issue is particularly common in e-commerce. Too many businesses are failing to engage their customers when there are no face-to-face possibilities.
Sounds recognizable?
It shouldn’t be surprising that people enjoy receiving personalized attention. Alternatively, nobody likes to think of themselves as only a number.
We will all spend money on things we desire, but the majority of us will also pay extra for superior service.
This distinction is not insignificant either. You do so at the peril of your firm.
If there is a superior customer experience involved, 86% of consumers will spend more. Customer experience is anticipated to surpass price and even the products themselves as a brand differentiation by the year 2020.
Therefore, you should make an investment in engaging your clients if you want higher retention and more conversions.
So, the question is, how can you boost client involvement in online shopping?
It is a good first step to realize how strong it is, but it will be lot simpler to put this idea into practice with sound techniques.
Fortunately, it doesn’t call for any significant adjustments. Here are eight quick strategies to start reaching out to your market more effectively.
Have you ever experienced what it’s like to speak while no one is paying attention?
It’s hardly a pleasant feeling, is it?
So, allowing client feedback is one simple technique to increase customer involvement in e-commerce. Give them a comment area or a place to rate your business.
Allowing your customers to communicate, though, is only half the battle. Additionally, you must demonstrate that you are paying attention. If not, your customers will just see that you are acting as though you care while actually caring nothing.
Offering rewards to clients for their suggestions and requests is a pretty good method to demonstrate that you are genuinely paying attention. People naturally enjoy receiving free things, so that’s another excellent reason to use this strategy.
You can solicit feedback from your consumers using customized pop-up windows, live chat, and emails. Use ecommerce personalization to then combine their comments with discounts, freebies, or other limited-time offers.
Free presents are always appreciated, but this kind of gift-giving also demonstrates that you genuinely value what your market has to say. After all, hearing from them literally costs you money, so it must be something you value highly.
Retail employees are frequently instructed to approach customers as soon as they enter the store and inquire, “Can I help you locate something?”
Despite its good intentions, the suggestion fails to take into account the fact that most individuals would prefer to help themselves.
Once more, this is not by a slim margin. 81% of customers will attempt to assist themselves before contacting a live operator in every industry. 90% of them will first visit your website.
These statistics can be used to increase consumer engagement in e-commerce by offering your users a self-service portal with as many tools as feasible. Anything from buyer’s guides to a FAQ could be included.
Customer churn is a significant issue. Your company’s profitability might rise by up to 125% if you lower this number.
Unhappy customers regrettably don’t always inform businesses of their decision to do business elsewhere. 26 customers stay silent for every one that complains to you.
They don’t say anything to you, so, okay. On the other side, their social media fans, relatives, and friends
Therefore, you must interact with dissatisfied clients before they permanently stop doing business with you. Offering surveys with every purchase and turning on the channels described in the first suggestion are two ways to achieve this.
Your capacity to engage with clients will undoubtedly improve as your customer base grows.
The issue is that the majority of customers prefer making purchases without creating accounts. Therefore, even if they increase your earnings, they do not aid in enhancing client engagement on your e-commerce platform.
Here, it’s important to avoid immediately searching for that account creation.
Wait till they make their first purchase before giving them the option to open an account. By that time, you’ve gained their trust and seen evidence that they value what you have to give.
Speaking of promotions, loyalty programs are another approach to build enduring relationships with your clients.
The 2017 Colloquy Loyalty Census revealed the following:
In loyalty programs, there are 3.8 billion active membership accounts.
39% of those with accounts noted the discounts, while 53% cited “ease of use.”
Therefore, even if you still need to offer incentives to your consumers to keep using these loyalty programs, they are still a highly effective technique to keep a tremendous amount of them engaged.
People prefer to be regarded as unique individuals, as was previously indicated. By getting in touch with your clients on their birthdays, anniversaries, and other noteworthy occasions, you can give them this individualized service.
Because it is clear that the consumer is receiving personalized service, this form of e-commerce personalization is great for engagement. After all, today is a wonderful day for them.
However, if it weren’t for your outreach, they might not have made a purchase from you on that particular day. You can provide them with a unique discount, a specific percentage off their purchase, or pretty much any other promotion you can think of.
Make sure the offer has some substance, though. Simply making product recommendations won’t seem like much of a gift. Your website should have that kind of ecommerce personalization regardless.
Social media is used by 2.8 billion people worldwide as of 2017.
Of course, you want your business to be there as well.
Having a social media presence is different from leveraging these sites to engage customers in e-commerce, though.
You should pledge to post at least once or twice per day, to start. By tracking the response each post receives, you’ll eventually be able to determine the appropriate amount for your business.
But you should also use Google alerts to keep track of what people are saying about your business on social media. You should already be doing this so that you are prepared to respond appropriately if your company gets highlighted in the media or on a blog.
Google can also be used to particularly track websites like Twitter and Facebook. Doing this on social media is especially beneficial because you can immediately contact the person who is talking about your company there.
You can respond to their complaint if they have one (recall tip #4). You are able to respond to their inquiries. You can thank them and tell everyone who follows your account about it.
These social media-specific alerts can be set up for the goods and services you provide as well. You can then present your business to their customers if someone asks their followers, “Does anyone know where to go for X?”
You will lose a lot of clients if you solely concentrate your e-commerce efforts on “selling.” They’ll swarm to the businesses that use the eight strategies we listed above and have invested in eCommerce personalization in the future.
The good news is that you don’t have to start putting all of them into practice at once, even though it could feel daunting to do so. Just start with one or two. Once you are able, put them to work for your company before moving on to a third and fourth.
As your business develops a reputation for outstanding client engagement and assistance, your investments will eventually pay off.
